


Hold

by MotherOftheUniverse



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I just had a lot of feelings ok?, Memory Loss, Protective Ford Pines, Stan Pines Angst, Stangst, Suicidal Thoughts, thoughts before the mind erasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:49:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25996285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MotherOftheUniverse/pseuds/MotherOftheUniverse
Summary: Ford holds his brother for what might be the last time.AKA. A conversation that might've taken place before Stan's sacrifice.
Relationships: Ford Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 24
Kudos: 158





	Hold

**Author's Note:**

> I had some emotions, and was feeling the Stangst. So I wrote a one-shot. 
> 
> I wanted protective Ford, and the bro's making up.

Stan adjusted the fez on Ford’s head so that it sat properly, then moved on to the bow tie. 

_12 PHD’s and this idiot doesn’t know how to tie it right…_ Stan thought to himself, smiling. 

He was going to miss this. 

“Your hands are shaking,” Ford pointed out. 

“’S nothin’” Stan mumbled, shaking him off. 

An eldritch nightmare was chasing after his kids. He’d been through worse. This didn’t scare him one bit. 

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Ford told his brother, for what had to be the millionth time since they had come up with this plan. “You don’t _need_ to be the hero,” Ford wished he’d understood that before _this_ all happened. Before Bill had taken over; before he destroyed the zodiac, before he dangled the kid’s lives over their heads to get what he wanted. 

But it was to late now. 

Stan scoffed at his statement. “This ain’t about bein’ some sorta hero, Ford. It’s jus’ bargaining.You an’ the kid’s are worth more than I’ll ever be. I mean, this is gotta be the greatest con I ever pulled. You save the kids, and the world, and all anyone looses is the useless mind of a washed up old man,” 

Ford gripped the bars of the cage. When he came back, he’d been annoyed that Stan had taken the suit their father had given to _him_ for his eventual wedding day. Ford was supposed to wear it the day he’d make his mother proud, and Stan had turned it into some sort of _costume_. But now that he was wearing it, it felt wrong on his skin. 

“‘Sides,” Stan continued his ramblings. A nervous tick. Stan tended to mutter nonsense when he was nervous. “Ya wanted me gone by the end of the summer anyways,” Ford blanched at those words. “So, ya save the kids, save the world, kill yer long-term nemesis, an’ get rid of yer useless brother! That’s what, three— four! Four birds, one stone. Seem’s like a good deal to me,” 

Ford gripped the cage bars so tightly his knuckles went white. He wanted to say something, but the words died in his dried out throat. Did Stan really— did he—? 

“I mean, this _was_ kinda the plan. I didn’t have no where to go. You’d be shuttin’ down the shack. Ya wanted me outta yer life. I wasn’t plannin’ on botherin’ ya. Wendy an’ Soos’d be outta a job. Wendy wouldn’t mind so much, but Soos had been doin’ this since he was a kid. He’d probably never forgive me if I shut it down. ‘Sides, I ain’t gonna mooch off him; he already had one deadbeat dad in his life,” 

Guilt collected in Ford’s stomach. He honestly hadn’t considered what Stan’s staff would think of loosing their jobs. Matter of fact, how would the _town_ react to loosing their main source of out-of-valley income? He didn’t care for the townspeople, and yet they had rallied behind _his_ kids in their attempt to rescue him. 

And Stan… what was Stan going to do once he left? 

“You’d tell the full story to the kids parents, so I’d probably never be allowed to see ‘em again,” Stan continued his ramblings, a bittersweet smile on his face. “I was thinkin’ I’d just go back to Glass Shard Beach, rent a row-boat, and go out to the middle of sea. I’d have no where to go, nobody to see. Nothin’ left to give. Thought I’d be useful and let the world erase one of it’s mistakes; you know, like bell-bottoms,” 

“Stanley…” Ford hummed. 

“And this ain’t so bad. I was gonna end up alone again anyways. I’d always been scared o’ dying, but I didn’t exactly wanna live much either. This is a nice middle man. I’ll be effectively dead, and when everyone leaves it won’t hurt so bad,” 

“Stanley, please, shut up,” Ford snapped. He didn’t mean it to come out as harsh, but he hated what his brother was implying. 

“Sorry…” Stan mumbled, “just got a little stage fright is all. This is an important performance. Can’t mess it up like last time. Gotta do the first worthwhile thing I’ve ever done, right?” 

“Please don’t say that,” Ford begged. Now he was shaking too, goddamn it. “Please, I…” 

What was he supposed to say? Redact what had been essentially a death sentence for his brother? _Great fucking time to do that!_ He couldn’t explain himself. He had wanted Stan out of his life, but he didn’t want him _out of his life_. He… honestly what did he want? What was he accomplishing by telling his brother to leave. Sure, he hated what Stan had done to his house, but if he where being honest, it was Stan’s _home_ longer than it’d been Ford’s place. 

What was he doing? And what worth was it apologizing now, when he was about to loose his brother forever.

_What would Stanley say?_ He asked himself. Stan had always known how to make someone feel better. With either a joke or bad life advice. He was good at lifting spirits. He was good at being there for people. 

He was good at being Ford’s brother. 

_Stanley wouldn’t say._ Ford realized. _He’d_ DO. 

Ford quickly pulled his brother into hug. “I’m sorry for everything,” He said. He couldn’t break down crying yet, no matter how much he wanted to. Bill would catch on if he did. He had to stay strong, and keep emotionally steady. 

“Hey, don’t beat yerself up about it,” Stan laughed nervously. His body fit like a puzzle-piece in Ford’s arms, but he was trembling. His precious baby brother was trembling as he was about to step up and give his life away. “I coulda just held yer stupid hand back at the circle, an’ this all coulda been avoided,” 

“Don’t apologize for that, I knowingly started that fight,” Ford told him. "I'm not going to hold anything against you. Not again," 

He squeezed his brother tighter. His twin, his Stanley. These would be his brother’s last moments, and if Ford could give his brother even the illusion of safety, he would. 

He was never as good at protecting Stan as Stan was at protecting him. Stan would fight anyone who looked down on Ford, while Ford would stay silent whenever someone did the same to Stan. There where so many times he could’ve been _better_. 

This was his last chance. It wouldn’t make up for anything, but it was his last chance. 

“D-does this mean we’re done fighting?” Stan asked with a cracked voice. “I don’ wanna fight anymore,” He sounded so close to sobbing. It was probably taking him everything he could not to break down. 

“I never should’ve tried to fight you…” Ford assured him. “You just… you just wanted me back,” 

“But ya didn’t wanna come back,” 

“No, no, I…” Ford had no idea what to say. He just squeezed his brother harder. “Please, don’t think badly of yourself. You’ve didn’t do anything wrong,” 

Stan laughed. “Well, I did some thing’s wrong,” He said.

Ford chuckled. “Well, I forgive you for every single one of those things,” He said. 

Stan’s knees finally gave out, as he slumped against his brother. He felt like he could pass out. He didn’t even know how much he needed to hear those words until he did. 

“Stan!” Ford out in worry, pulling his brother back up to his feet. 

“I’m not sure how much I wanna go now,” Stan laughed. “I mean, I’m gonna do it, already committed and all that. But uh, if you don’t hate me anymore…” 

“I never hated you,” Ford swore. 

“Sure,” Stan brushed him off, almost non-believing. “Sure,” 

Stan stepped away from his brother, standing tall at the front of the cage. Time was almost up. He could feel it in his bones. 

“Say, Poindexter,” He said quietly. “What’s gonna happen to me once my mind is wiped. Ya gonna send me to a retirement home or somethin’?” 

He wondered if he could stay in the same place as Shermie. Wouldn’t that be something? 

“I’ll take care of you,” Ford promised. 

This surprised him. “Really? Won’t be too much of a burden on you or anything,” 

“No, no,” Ford assured. “I want you by my side. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that,” 

“Hey, everyone makes mistakes,” Stan laughed nervously. He was shaking again. “Your not jus’ saying that to make me feel better, right? You’ll really look after me an’ my empty head?” 

“Of course,” Ford stated, firm and unrelenting. No room for arguments. 

Bill’s laughter rang through the hallways. He was getting close. Time was up. 

“You’ll never be alone again,” Ford promised. He took the last opportunity he had to squeeze his brother’s hand. “I love you, Stanley,” 

Stan nodded. “Yeah, I love you too, ya big nerd,” 

**Author's Note:**

> There you go. Enjoy!


End file.
